Five hours after being sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, newly minted President Joe Biden put his pen where his campaign promises were, as he tackled 17 executive orders stacked high on his desk in the Oval Office.
Biden has said he would make COVID-19 his first priority, and he quickly fulfilled his pledge, signing a mask mandate as his initial order as the new president. Now, all federal buildings and federal staff, visitors, and contractors must wear a face mask.
Kicking off his historic 17 executive orders was Biden’s "100 Days Mask Challenge,” which requests that all Americans wear a mask for the first 100 days of his presidency. In doing so, Biden addressed the tragic deaths of over 400,000 Americans due to Coronavirus.
Congress well knows the veteran public servant to be gentle, ethical, and efficient. Within hours after his inauguration, Biden's actions proved his mettle, marking him as the president who signed the most executive orders on day one.
"There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face,” said President Biden. “ That's why today, I am heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families.”
In preparation for the expected trips to the Supreme Court necessitated by the president’s reversals of so many of Trump’s legal mandates, Biden hired Elizabeth Preloggar to serve as acting solicitor general. Preloggar will represent the administration before the Supreme Court with a defense strategy for the legal challenges likely to come before the highest court in the land.
His long priority list of executive orders included mostly Trump mandates that have now been struck down. A round-up of these executive orders include:
1.) A Federal Mask Mandate, while asking all Americans to wear masks for 100 days. This order requires people to wear masks plus practice physical social distancing in all federal buildings, federal lands, and by government contractors. It also asks states and local municipalities to follow this practice.
2.) Biden reversed Trump’s travel ban for people arriving from Muslim countries and overturned restrictions for US entry for passport holders who are traveling from seven Muslim countries.
3.) Halting construction of the US/Mexico wall
4.) Extending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act, protecting young ‘dreamers’ who arrived as children of undocumented immigrants and grew up in the US.
5.) Stopped the withdrawal of America from the World Health Organization (WHO)
6.) Creating a new position of COVID-19 Response Coordinator
7.) Extending the current about-to-expire eviction and foreclosures moratorium to March 31, 2021
8) Announcing America is rejoining the Paris Climate Accord
9.) Extending the existing pause for all student loan payments, including interest for Americans with federal student loans, until at least September 30
10.) Canceling the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and directing staff to review/reverse over 100 Trump actions regarding the environment
11.) Rescinding the Trump administration’s 1776 Commission
12.) Ordering the prevention of all workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the US.
13.) Rescinding Trump’s prior mandate, now requiring all non-citizens to be included in the Census and the apportionment of congressional representatives.
14.) Ordering a less aggressive stance toward the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
15.) Issuing an order specifically preventing the deportation of certain Liberians in the country presently.
16.) Mandating all executive branch appointees sign an ethics pledge, barring them from acting for any personal interest and requiring all appointees to uphold the independence of the Department of Justice
17.) Directing the Office of Management and Budget Director to create a modernized regulatory review, undoing Trump’s regulatory approval system.
January 20, 2021, was a busy day for White House ethics. In the morning then-president Trump revoked his 2017 ethics policy and, in the afternoon, as one of the seventeen executive orders he signed on his first day, President Biden introduced his own Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive... Read More »
President Biden issued the “Modernizing Regulatory Review” Executive Order with the intent to update the review process by obtaining feedback from OMB and other agencies. This feedback will address “how the regulatory review process can promote public health and safety, economic growth, social welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity,... Read More »
The Biden administration has wasted no time tackling the thorny issue of illegal immigrants in our nation. In a memorandum from Homeland Security, the administration outlined several components in the way immigration enforcement will be handled when it comes to the deportation of illegal immigrants. The memorandum states in part,... Read More »
Day One: Newly minted President Joe Biden signed seventeen executive orders within about five hours of being sworn into the land's highest office. Signed on day one was his order ‘Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.’ With decades of experience and education rooted... Read More »
